TrybalRage
Seaman
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2010
- Messages
- 60
Hi everybody.
I am trying to get my '88 mercruiser 3.0 liter started, and I'm having some troubles. This forum has been great so far for finding some information, but now I'm kind of stuck.
I bought this boat for $300, supposedly ran fine before the guy parked it. When I picked it up the battery was dead, so I replaced that first. Then it wouldn't turn over, so I tracked it down to the ignition switch, once replaced it turns over fine.
When I tried to start it, it would turn over but not even a hint of firing. I started poking around and found that the coil wire had a bulge in it, almost as if it had gotten hot at that spot - so I figured that I'll replace the wires, they could use it anyway.
Since I was doing that I also read it's a good idea to clean up or replace the points, so I ordered new wires and cap/rotor/points/condenser set from the iboats store, and got new plugs. The only thing I didn't get was a new coil, but I probably should do that too - it tests within spec with my multimeter, but it's a bit crusty so I don't know if it is firing consistently because it's old.
Tried to fire it again, and it started! Ran for about 10 seconds, then started to stumble and stalled. Can't restart it. If I crank it over, it sounds like it wants to fire, but it just won't start again. I checked all my connections, good. I pop off the flame arrestor, and the carb seems to have waay to much gas in it.
And so I really come to the current question at hand. I did not set dwell or timing, just yet, as I don't have the tools to do so (need to rent some). I know this needs to be done. But I kind of need to get it running (even if poorly) before I can set the timing right.
My real concern right now is the carb. I usually work on fuel-injected cars, so this thing is a mystery to me. However, if I can see gas literally puddled inside, that appears to be an awful lot of fuel at one time. Also, even though I have stopped trying to start it while I have the flame arrestor off, gas is still dripping from the venturi down into the bowl. This does not appear right to me, can someone give some insight? I think the carb is flooding out the engine.
I checked the sight tube based on a few threads I found and it is dry, so it doesn't appear that the fuel pump is pushing fuel up into the carb and flooding it that way.
I think the carb is dumping too much fuel and sticking open, does it sound like that is the case? I am not against trying to rebuild it myself, is that too hard for the average home mechanic to tackle? The price of a reman is really high, unless there is a core charge they are not figuring in... I see them (lowest) for around $300.
Sorry for the long post, just trying to give as much info as possible.
I am trying to get my '88 mercruiser 3.0 liter started, and I'm having some troubles. This forum has been great so far for finding some information, but now I'm kind of stuck.
I bought this boat for $300, supposedly ran fine before the guy parked it. When I picked it up the battery was dead, so I replaced that first. Then it wouldn't turn over, so I tracked it down to the ignition switch, once replaced it turns over fine.
When I tried to start it, it would turn over but not even a hint of firing. I started poking around and found that the coil wire had a bulge in it, almost as if it had gotten hot at that spot - so I figured that I'll replace the wires, they could use it anyway.
Since I was doing that I also read it's a good idea to clean up or replace the points, so I ordered new wires and cap/rotor/points/condenser set from the iboats store, and got new plugs. The only thing I didn't get was a new coil, but I probably should do that too - it tests within spec with my multimeter, but it's a bit crusty so I don't know if it is firing consistently because it's old.
Tried to fire it again, and it started! Ran for about 10 seconds, then started to stumble and stalled. Can't restart it. If I crank it over, it sounds like it wants to fire, but it just won't start again. I checked all my connections, good. I pop off the flame arrestor, and the carb seems to have waay to much gas in it.
And so I really come to the current question at hand. I did not set dwell or timing, just yet, as I don't have the tools to do so (need to rent some). I know this needs to be done. But I kind of need to get it running (even if poorly) before I can set the timing right.
My real concern right now is the carb. I usually work on fuel-injected cars, so this thing is a mystery to me. However, if I can see gas literally puddled inside, that appears to be an awful lot of fuel at one time. Also, even though I have stopped trying to start it while I have the flame arrestor off, gas is still dripping from the venturi down into the bowl. This does not appear right to me, can someone give some insight? I think the carb is flooding out the engine.
I checked the sight tube based on a few threads I found and it is dry, so it doesn't appear that the fuel pump is pushing fuel up into the carb and flooding it that way.
I think the carb is dumping too much fuel and sticking open, does it sound like that is the case? I am not against trying to rebuild it myself, is that too hard for the average home mechanic to tackle? The price of a reman is really high, unless there is a core charge they are not figuring in... I see them (lowest) for around $300.
Sorry for the long post, just trying to give as much info as possible.
